Country comparison · 527 cities measured
India vs South Korea Air quality index (AQI) and deforestation
South Korea has cleaner air than India right now: its cities average AQI 69 against 132.
At ground stations alone, which measure rather than estimate, the averages are India 126 (220 cities) and South Korea 69 (56 cities). India has lost more forest since 2001. South Korea has more tree cover in its cities.
Average of 471 cities
AQI 132
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner on average
- At ground stations
- AQI 126
- Tree cover
- 27.3%
- Forest lost since 2001
- 2.6 million ha
Average of 56 cities
AQI 69
Moderate
Cleaner on average
- At ground stations
- AQI 69
- Tree cover
- 28.4%
- Forest lost since 2001
- 436,000 ha
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
India132South Korea69
Head to head
India vs South Korea at a glance
South Korea is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and India on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| India | South Korea | |
|---|---|---|
| Average air qualityUS AQI, all measured cities. | 132 | 69 (better) |
| At ground stationsCities with a current station reading. | 126 | 69 (better) |
| Cities over AQI 100Not fine for sensitive groups. | 60% | 7% (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001The whole country. | 2.6 million ha | 436,000 ha (better) |
| Share of its forest lostOf what it had in 2000. | 6.7% (better) | 8.2% |
| Average tree coverAcross its measured cities. | 27.3% | 28.4% (better) |
Air quality today
Is South Korea cleaner than India?
On air quality, yes, right now. South Korea has cleaner air than India right now: its cities average AQI 69 against 132.
At ground stations alone, which measure rather than estimate, the averages are India 126 (220 cities) and South Korea 69 (56 cities).
60% of the measured cities in India are over AQI 100 today, the point where the air stops being fine for sensitive groups, against 7% in South Korea.
How each country's cities split across the air quality bands
India
- Good4 (1%)
- Moderate184 (39%)
- Unhealthy for sensitive groups145 (31%)
- Unhealthy108 (23%)
- Very unhealthy16 (3%)
- Hazardous14 (3%)
South Korea
- Good3 (5%)
- Moderate49 (88%)
- Unhealthy for sensitive groups4 (7%)
Every measured city, including model estimates where no ground station is near.
Against everywhere else
How do India and South Korea compare with other countries?
Right now the cities of India average cleaner air than 1% of the 171 countries Airleaf has enough cities to average, and those of South Korea than 28%.
Cleaner air than…
- India
- Beats 1%
- South Korea
- Beats 28%
More tree cover than…
- India
- Beats 59%
- South Korea
- Beats 64%
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which country has lost more forest, India or South Korea?
India has lost more: about 2.6 million ha of forest from 2001 to 2025, against 436,000 ha in South Korea, or 5.9 times as much. 730,000 ha of India's was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns; the rest burned, was logged or can grow back.
The whole country, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: unlike the city averages above, this counts every forest, not just the land around cities.
Worst year: 2017, with 190,000 ha lost.
Worst year: 2025, with 87,000 ha lost.
| India | South Korea | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 2.6 million ha | 436,000 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 6.7% (better) | 8.2% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 730,000 ha | 67,300 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Holding steady | Speeding up |
| Main known cause | Shifting farming (59%) | Logging (70%) |
Trees
Which country has more tree cover, India or South Korea?
South Korea does: its measured cities average 28.4% tree cover against 27.3%, a gap of 1.1 percentage points.
| India | South Korea | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingSummed across measured cities. | 39.1M (better) | 4.8M |
| Cities below their targetShort of the canopy target. | 76% | 57% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach those targets. | 16.5M | 1.2M (better) |
Behind the averages
The cities behind India and South Korea
An average says nothing about how far apart the best and worst places are. These are the measured cities at each end.
India
- Greenest measured city
- Dārjiling88.2% tree cover
- Worst air right now
- Bhālswa JahangirpurAQI 423
Reading these numbers
What a country average is, and is not
It is a mean of cities
Not a national statistic. Each figure is the average across the cities Airleaf has measured: 471 in India and 56 in South Korea, each read over the same 2 km radius, on the US EPA index. Rural land and unmeasured towns are not in it.
Coverage shapes the number
A country measured mostly in its capital reads differently from one measured across dozens of towns. India rests on 471 cities against 56, so its average is the steadier of the two. Forest figures come from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
Frequently asked
India vs South Korea: your questions answered
Is South Korea cleaner than India?
On air quality, yes, right now: South Korea's cities average AQI 69 against 132 on the US EPA index. These are live readings averaged across cities, so the gap moves with the weather. At ground stations alone, which measure rather than estimate, the averages are India 126 (220 cities) and South Korea 69 (56 cities).
Which country has lost more forest, India or South Korea?
India has lost more: about 2.6 million ha of forest from 2001 to 2025, against 436,000 ha in South Korea, or 5.9 times as much. 730,000 ha of India's was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns; the rest burned, was logged or can grow back.
Which country has more tree cover, India or South Korea?
South Korea does: its measured cities average 28.4% tree cover against 27.3%, a gap of 1.1 percentage points.
How many cities are the India and South Korea figures based on?
471 measured cities in India and 56 in South Korea. Every one was read the same way, so the two averages are directly comparable, but a country with more measured cities has the more settled figure.
Why are there two air quality averages for each country?
The first covers every measured city, using a ground station where one is close and a model estimate everywhere else. The second counts only cities with a current station reading, which is measured rather than estimated but covers fewer places. Airleaf's world rankings use the station figures only.
Does this cover the whole of India and South Korea?
The air and tree figures are not: they are the cities Airleaf has measured, each over the same 2 km radius, so treat them as a comparison of urban air and urban tree cover. The forest figures are: they count every forest in the country.
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